NCT04339647

Brief Summary

This is a cluster randomised control trial targeting 5-6-year-old children and their parents in Kampar district, Perak, Malaysia for a period of 6 months. In total, 28 preschools are randomly assigned into intervention and control group (14 preschools per group). Sample size for each group is 317 children. The intervention group receives the SIMS programme (SIMSP) which is an improved version of the usual care, while the control group receives the usual care. Usual care in defined as the existing preschool oral health programme (POHP) offered by the Ministry of Health. The SIMSP is formulated based on the recommendations from the National Oral Health Survey of Preschool Children's (2015) report. It comprises active participation of dental therapists (DT), parents and class teachers in children's oral health. The concept of the SIMSP is that improvement in oral health behaviours and oral hygiene of preschool children would result in improvement of gingival health and caries level in their permanent teeth in the long term. On the other hand, the control group involves DT visiting preschools twice a year without parental nor teachers active involvement. The scientific hypothesis of the study is that the SIMSP is more effective to improve oral hygiene level of preschool children than the POHP over 6 months. The primary objective of the study is to assess the effect of the SIMSP versus the POHP in improving oral hygiene level among 5-6-year-old children over 6 months. The secondary objectives are to assess the changes in oral health behaviours among the children and oral health literacy among parents over 6 months.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
653

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Feb 2019

Shorter than P25 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

February 18, 2019

Completed
8 months until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

October 17, 2019

Completed
1 month until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

November 17, 2019

Completed
5 months until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

April 5, 2020

Completed
4 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

April 9, 2020

Completed
Last Updated

April 9, 2020

Status Verified

April 1, 2020

Enrollment Period

8 months

First QC Date

April 5, 2020

Last Update Submit

April 5, 2020

Conditions

Keywords

PreschoolChildrenDental plaqueOral health behaviourHealth literacy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • The mean decrement in plaque score assessed using the Oral Cleanliness Index

    The mean decrement in plaque score from baseline to follow up between the intervention and control group will be assessed. Assessment for the presence of visible plaque will involve examining the labial surfaces of upper right to upper left primary canines. Each of the surface is assessed by scoring; 0 = teeth appear clean, 1 = a little plaque visible (existence of plaque around the labial cervical margins and covering \< ½ of labial tooth surfaces), 2 = substantial amount of plaque visible (plaque covering \> ½ labial tooth surfaces), and 9 = assessment cannot be made (there is no teeth in both anterior segments for plaque assessment). Total score is the sum of scores from the 6 surfaces. Mean decrement score is obtained by subtracting mean score at follow up from mean score at baseline. Finally, mean decrement scores of intervention and control group are compared.

    6 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

  • Changes in child's oral health behaviours assessed using a self-reported questionnaire by parents

    6 months

  • The mean increment of oral health literacy score of parents/guardians assessed using The Dental Health Literacy Assessment Index (DHLAI)

    6 months

Study Arms (2)

The SIMS Programme

EXPERIMENTAL

The SIMS programme is a community-based intervention which improvised the usual care (defined as the existing preschool oral health programme) offered by the Ministry of Health. The target group is 5-6-year-old preschool children and their parents. Apart from the usual care, the 5-6-year-old children receive interventions carried out by teacher in school and home tooth brushing supervision by parents. In addition, parents/guardians will receive OHE from the DT team, free toothbrush and toothpaste (1000ppm F) for child home tooth brushing and supervised child home tooth brushing for 6 months.

Behavioral: The SIMS programme

Control

NO INTERVENTION

The control group receives the usual care from the preschool oral health programme. The usual care is described as a DT team visiting the school to do an oral examination, provides OHE to the children, and applies fluoride varnish (20,000 ppmF) twice/year.

Interventions

The intervention targets 5-6-year-old preschool children and their parents. Apart from the usual care, 5-6-year-old children receive oral health lessons and supervised daily tooth brushing (1000ppm F) at school over a period of 6 months, as well as home tooth brushing supervision by parents for 6 months. Parents/guardians attend a meeting with a DT team at school to discuss on child's oral health status, receive OHE and free toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste (1000ppm F) for child home tooth brushing, and receive 10 oral health infographic messages from DT over a period of 5 months (with printed versions available).

The SIMS Programme

Eligibility Criteria

Age5 Years - 6 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsChild (0-17)

You may qualify if:

  • Children who are healthy
  • Preschool children who can understand Malay language
  • Parents who can speak and write in Malay language

You may not qualify if:

  • Children with chronic medical conditions, dental/oral developmental conditions, long term medications, and physical disability

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

State Education Department

Ipoh, Perak, 30640, Malaysia

Location

Related Publications (16)

  • Albino J, Tiwari T. Preventing Childhood Caries: A Review of Recent Behavioral Research. J Dent Res. 2016 Jan;95(1):35-42. doi: 10.1177/0022034515609034. Epub 2015 Oct 5.

    PMID: 26438210BACKGROUND
  • Bearn DR, Aird JC, Jenkins WM, Kinane DF. Index of Oral Cleanliness (I.O.C.). A new oral hygiene index for use in clinical audit. Br J Orthod. 1996 May;23(2):145-51. doi: 10.1179/bjo.23.2.145.

    PMID: 8771339BACKGROUND
  • Cooper AM, O'Malley LA, Elison SN, Armstrong R, Burnside G, Adair P, Dugdill L, Pine C. Primary school-based behavioural interventions for preventing caries. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 May 31;2013(5):CD009378. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD009378.pub2.

    PMID: 23728691BACKGROUND
  • Freeman, R, Gibson, B, Humphris, GM, Leonard, H, Yuan, S & Whelton, H. School-based health education programmes, health-learning capacity and child oral health-related quality of life. Health Education Journal. 2016;75(6):698-711.

    BACKGROUND
  • Gao X, Lo EC, McGrath C, Ho SM. Innovative interventions to promote positive dental health behaviors and prevent dental caries in preschool children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2013 Apr 30;14:118. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-14-118.

    PMID: 23782918BACKGROUND
  • Guse K, Levine D, Martins S, Lira A, Gaarde J, Westmorland W, Gilliam M. Interventions using new digital media to improve adolescent sexual health: a systematic review. J Adolesc Health. 2012 Dec;51(6):535-43. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.03.014. Epub 2012 May 5.

    PMID: 23174462BACKGROUND
  • Marinho VC, Higgins JP, Sheiham A, Logan S. Fluoride toothpastes for preventing dental caries in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;2003(1):CD002278. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002278.

    PMID: 12535435BACKGROUND
  • Mejare I, Axelsson S, Dahlen G, Espelid I, Norlund A, Tranaeus S, Twetman S. Caries risk assessment. A systematic review. Acta Odontol Scand. 2014 Feb;72(2):81-91. doi: 10.3109/00016357.2013.822548. Epub 2013 Sep 2.

    PMID: 23998481BACKGROUND
  • Peretz B, Ram D, Azo E, Efrat Y. Preschool caries as an indicator of future caries: a longitudinal study. Pediatr Dent. 2003 Mar-Apr;25(2):114-8.

    PMID: 12723835BACKGROUND
  • Pine CM. Designing school programmes to be effective vehicles for changing oral hygiene behaviour. Int Dent J. 2007;57(S5):377-81.

    BACKGROUND
  • Rajab LD, Petersen PE, Bakaeen G, Hamdan MA. Oral health behaviour of schoolchildren and parents in Jordan. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2002 May;12(3):168-76. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-263x.2002.00359.x.

    PMID: 12028308BACKGROUND
  • Sheiham A. Dietary effects on dental diseases. Public Health Nutr. 2001 Apr;4(2B):569-91. doi: 10.1079/phn2001142.

    PMID: 11683551BACKGROUND
  • Songur F, Simsek Derelioglu S, Yilmaz S, Kosan Z. Assessing the Impact of Early Childhood Caries on the Development of First Permanent Molar Decays. Front Public Health. 2019 Jul 9;7:186. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00186. eCollection 2019.

    PMID: 31338357BACKGROUND
  • Pitts NB, Ekstrand KR; ICDAS Foundation. International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and its International Caries Classification and Management System (ICCMS) - methods for staging of the caries process and enabling dentists to manage caries. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2013 Feb;41(1):e41-52. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12025.

    PMID: 24916677BACKGROUND
  • . Ludke RL, Kudel I, and Weber DL, Dental Health Literacy Assessment Instrument, U.o. Cincinnati, Editor. 2008.

    BACKGROUND
  • Yusof ZYM, Anwar NH, Mohd Nor NA, Nor MM, Mustafa SE. The effect of the SIMS Programme versus existing preschool oral healthcare programme on oral hygiene level of preschool children: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2021 Feb 22;22(1):156. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05111-0.

Related Links

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Dental Plaque

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Dental DepositsTooth DiseasesStomatognathic Diseases

Study Officials

  • Zamros YM Yusof, BDS, MSc, PhD

    Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
SINGLE
Who Masked
OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
Purpose
PREVENTION
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Model Details: Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

April 5, 2020

First Posted

April 9, 2020

Study Start

February 18, 2019

Primary Completion

October 17, 2019

Study Completion

November 17, 2019

Last Updated

April 9, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-04

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will not share

Data will be kept at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Data can be shared upon request and is subjected to the data protection regulations.

Locations